"As you wish, marquis," he said, "but I must point out to you that when
this deduction has been made, the joint fortune of Mlle. Helene and
yourself will consist of something like four or five thousand livres,
which, at the present rate of interest, will give you an income of two
hundred and twenty-five francs. That being so, may I venture to ask in
a confidential, friendly, and respectful way whether you have thought of
any way of providing for your own existence and for that of your ward
and sister? And, generally, what your plans are?"
"I tell you frankly I have none. Whatever plans I may have had are
quite impossible in the state of destitution to which I am now reduced.
If I were alone in the world I should enlist, but I have my sister, and
I cannot endure the thought of seeing the poor child subjected to toil
and privations. She is happy in the convent and young enough to stay
there some years longer. I would gladly accept any employment which
would enable me, by the strictest personal economy, to pay her expenses
each year and provide for her dowry in the future."